


Roommates in a Psychic House

by graysonofgotham (cruel_oath)



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Mind Reading, psychic link shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 16:05:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17531888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruel_oath/pseuds/graysonofgotham
Summary: The psychic link is useful—so useful, in fact, the team has taken to using it as another form of communication. As useful as it is, though, teenagers aren't always going to use it for work-related purposes.





	Roommates in a Psychic House

**Author's Note:**

> I saw [this post](https://niightwng.tumblr.com/post/182179203005/sohotthateveryonedied-one-of-my-absolute) by [sohotthateveryonedied](http://sohotthateveryonedied.tumblr.com/post/157065160993/one-of-my-absolute-favorite-things-about-young) on Tumblr and I couldn't not write a fic about this. I've actually got a few more fics planned for a few of these ideas because some of them felt too big (or a little too dark) to put into a relatively goofy fic, so keep an eye out for that.

It starts out as an experiment. 

Dick has read up on the psychic abilities of Martians―he know that Martians are capable of breaking and rebuilding minds, of repressing and retrieving memories, of reading thoughts and manipulating emotions. Batman’s files on Martians were extensive, yet they still failed to answer the very important questions a nine-year-old Dick Grayson had.

_ If I start singing in my head, will other people on the psychic link sing along? Can Martians understand a dog’s thoughts? Do they look for secrets, or do secrets find them? _

Truth be told, he kinda forgot all about his questions until recently, when he had access to a psychic link. M’gann took to keeping the link up even when they were off duty so they were mission-ready at all times, but already they’ve started relying pretty heavily on it. After all, who wanted to get up off the couch to ask someone all the way in the library about what toppings they wanted on their pizza?

He’s in the middle of training when he becomes aware that they’re still mentally linked. Before he can even stop himself, a little drum beat from the back of his head brings itself to the forefront, and it’s  _ loud. _

Dick jumps down from the bars he’s spent the better half of his training session on, breaking out into laughter when he hears Artemis and Wally’s groans in his mind. He feels confusion coming from M’gann and Conner (and probably a little bit of anger from the latter), along with Kaldur’s exasperation.

_ Who the hell is rickrolling the mental link?  _ Artemis snaps.

_ Hey, don’t look at me,  _ Wally says,  _ you think I wanna put myself through this? _

_ Excuse me,  _ M’gann chimes in,  _ but what’s a rickroll? _

_ Yes, I’m afraid I am not familiar with the concept of “rickrolling.” Would someone care to enlighten us? _

Conner… well, Dick’s not sure  _ what  _ noise Conner just let out on the mental link, but it brings forth another round of body-wracking laughter. He lowers himself down into a sitting position on the mat, waiting until his laughter subsides before tuning back in. His stomach and sides ache, and he feels himself on the edge of another laughing fit when Wally finishes explaining rickrolls to their other teammates.

_ I see,  _ Kaldur says,  _ then it is… a prank. _

_ An  _ **_obnoxious_ ** _ one,  _ Artemis adds.

_ I dunno, ‘Mis,  _ Dick finally chimes in.  _ I can’t bring myself to be mad. It’s not like  _ Never Gonna Give You Up  _ is a bad song. _

_ Well, it’s not but―you little troll! _

Dick’s response is to play it again.

* * *

 

They’re in the middle of a recon mission when the next mental link incident occurs.

Nobody’s really expecting any trouble. Three squads of two scattered on a relatively small island with lax security  _ screams _ cakewalk, so it’s not too surprising when minds begin to wander. Artemis catches a few stray thoughts―Kaldur’s thoughts of visiting his mother, M’gann’s internal battle of deciding whether she should make cookies or brownies for a post-mission snack, Robin’s thought process as he works on his calculus homework while waiting for a file to finish downloading.

It was only a matter of time until her own thoughts began to turn away from the building in front of her.

_ Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want _ _  
_ _ So tell me what you want, what you really, really want _

Artemis lets out a sheepish laugh when she hears everyone’s collective scream in her head. She scratches the back of her neck, making an attempt to get back to work, but the Spice Girls weren’t willing to be silenced so easily. Beside her, Miss Martian gives her a confused look.

_ Christ on a bike, Artemis― _

_ Is this another form of rickrolling? _

_ But I thought rickrolling was― _

_ No!  _ **_No!_ ** _ Do not let your train of thought go down that track, SB! _

_ If we could  _ **_please_ ** _ get back to the mission at hand,  _ Aqualad cuts in, his tone the slightest bit sharp.  _ Artemis, focus. _

_ Yeah, um,  _ Artemis says,  _ I’ve kinda had this song stuck in my head for the past week and a half. I’m surprised I held out this long. _

_ So are we just supposed to put up with it?  _ Wally asks.

_ Only other option is to switch to our comms and risk getting our signal intercepted,  _ Robin points out.

_ We will endure it,  _ Aqualad sighs,  _ though it would be greatly appreciated if you could tone it down a little bit. _

By the end of the night, even Superboy finds himself mentally singing along.

* * *

 

_ “Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness. Wretched is he who looks back upon―” _

Kaldur drops the book in his hands, leaping up from where he was sitting on the couch and going for his water-bearers. His eyes scan his surroundings, carefully searching for the source of the scream that tore him from the pages of the book Robin had let him borrow.

“Show yourself,” Kaldur commands. Slowly, he begins to move, searching behind the couch. He examines the kitchen and comes up empty.

He hears another scream―this time, it’s Robin. But there’s something peculiar about it… it’s as though it’s in his head.

Kaldur makes one final sweep of the area before putting his water-bearers away.  _ Perhaps these Lovecraftian tales Robin had recommended are―  _

There’s another yell, louder than the last. It’s Wally, and it’s  _ definitely  _ in his head, but… he doesn’t sound like he’s in pain, or that there’s something wrong. In fact, it feels…  _ amused? _

Kaldur inhales, then exhales slowly. He walks back to the couch, cautiously sits back down, and picks up the book. He pauses for a moment, waiting to see if Robin or Wally will yell  _ again.  _ When it doesn’t come, he opens back up to the page where he left off.

_ “Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring―  _

Another scream.

**_Enough,_ ** Kaldur snaps through the mental link.  _ Robin, Wally, the entire team can hear you. Stop disrupting them. _

He expects pangs of guilt. Instead, he gets a combination of amusement and embarrassment. For the third time, he returns his attention to the book. He nearly rips it in half when Wally starts screaming again, only for his thoughts to go silent.

_ I shut them out of the mental link,  _ M’gann says.

_ Oh my god, finally,  _ Artemis groans.

_ If they start actually screaming,  _ Conner adds, _ I’ll give them something to scream about. _

_ I did not hear that,  _ Kaldur says. He picks up where he left off, basking in the blissful silence.

* * *

 

Conner wasn’t a fan of the mental link.

He admitted it was different from Cadmus―the voices in his head were communicating  _ with _ him, not force-feeding him information. The voices were lively, not the monotonous droning he had grown up with. He warmed up to it, made peace with it, saw its uses, but he doubts he’ll ever  _ enjoy  _ it.

So, Conner chose to participate in it as little as possible. Say something to let people know he was listening (or still alive), then go back to focusing on the mission.

_ Security’s been disabled,  _ Robin says.  _ You’re good to go, SB. _

_ Quietly,  _ Aqualad adds.  _ Be mindful of your landing. We cannot risk alerting them to our presence. _

Superboy rolls his eyes.  _ No shit, we don’t want them knowing we’re here.  _ He takes a moment to make sure nobody’s around before leaping over to the building. He lands on the rooftop, making only a little noise.

_ Huh. _

_ Something wrong, Miss M? _

_ I didn’t think Superboy screamed in his head. _

_ You guys said to be quiet,  _ Superboy points out.

_ Yes, but… nevermind,  _ Aqualad says.  _ Proceed, but―  _

_ ‘Don’t let them catch you.’ I know, I know.  _ Superboy rolls his eyes.  _ I wasn’t born yesterday. _

* * *

 

Sometimes it was easy to forget about the psychic link.

It was a lot like everyone’s minds were rooms in a house. Each one was surrounded by walls that offered privacy, but the walls were  _ thin.  _ It didn’t take much for a simple thought to be heard even behind the wall.

For the most part, it was easy to tolerate. They might hear Kaldur reading a particularly exhilarating passage in one of the horror or science fiction books Robin lent him. They might hear Robin doing mental calculations as he worked on his calculus homework. They might hear Wally’s  _ reallyfastthoughts  _ while he’s in the training room, or M’gann rattling off ingredients she needed, or Conner’s… well, Conner’s volume never got that loud when they were off duty.

Right now, everything’s quiet in Artemis’ mind. She and Robin are in the gym, each of them working on their own thing. Artemis fires at moving targets, while the Boy Wonder above her flies through the air on the trapeze set that had been installed a month back.

It’s nice. Calm. Not like training sessions when she was a little girl, where she wondered if it’d be her last.

_ Son of a bitch! _

Artemis is so startled, she misses her target. Lucky for her, Robin’s paying enough attention to avoid the arrow mid air, though it means he’s not able to grab the trapeze before him. With one quick movement, he shoots off his grappling hook, lowering himself back down onto the gym floor.

“Robin, I am so s―” 

“Was that Miss M?” Robin asks.

Artemis pauses. “I… I think so?” It takes her a moment to realize that M’gann is  _ still  _ ranting inside their heads.

_ I cannot fucking believe that I didn’t grease the tin! Hello, Megan, you dumbass, now it’s ruined! How are you going to explain this fuck-up to Batman? Goddammit! _

“Should we tell her?” Artemis asks.

Robin’s trying to hold it together―he’s  _ trying,  _ Artemis can see him  _ shaking  _ with the effort it’s taking to not laugh, but he can’t stop the giggles that escape him when he opens his mouth. He shakes his head, waiting for the giggles to die down before wheezing out, “Let’s see how long it takes her to realize we can hear her. This might be the only time we ever hear Miss M say ‘fuck.’”

* * *

 

As the one person on the team who knew the kid behind the mask, Wally was typically kept up-to-date on what was going on in Robin’s personal life. They told each other everything, from teenage anxieties to the hero life to issues at home.

In Dick’s case, he’s dealing with a triple threat.

Wally knows Dick and Bruce have been having issues at home. He knows that the number of disagreements between the bats have been growing, resulting in Dick spending more and more time at the cave. Though Batman is careful not to say anything at the cave, he can see the rift slowly forming between the two of them, and Wally knows it’s only a matter of time until one of them does something they’ll both regret.

_ Robin… is everything alright between you and Batman? _

Wally sees the way Dick freezes up. He can feel Dick’s eyes on him, giving him an accusatory glare, to which Wally responds with a subtle shake of the head.

_ I wasn’t looking, I swear,  _ M’gann says,  _ but you seem angry. You have for the past few months, but tonight it just felt stronger. I caught bits and pieces, but no details. _

Dick relaxes a little.  _ I… it’s fine, M’gann. Everything’s asterous. Really. _

_ Robin, please don’t lie. You don’t have to tell us anything at all if you don’t want to―or can’t―but we’re your friends. We’re here for you. _

_ She’s right, Di―Rob,  _ Wally adds.  _ I know the Bat probably makes you keep all this shit under lock and key, but we’re a team. We take care of our own. _

Wally knows Robin wants to talk about it―he can sense the urge to rip those sunglasses off his face and spill his guts, but he doesn’t. Instead, he offers M’gann a tiny smile.

_ Things are… complicated, I guess. Conflicts of interest and all. We’re working on it, but it’s… frustrating. Batman’s as stubborn as they come, y’know? _

_He’ll come around, Di―dude._ _You’ll get through to him one of these days._

M’gann seems to take notice of the slip of tongue this time, but she doesn’t say anything about it. Instead, she returns the smile, flying over to them and pulling Robin in for a hug.  _ Anything we can do to help? _

_ Being away from him for a few hours helps a lot, actually,  _ Robin says, _ If it weren’t for the team, I probably would’ve gone nuts. _

_ Then in that case, why don’t we have a movie night?  _ M’gann suggests,  _ It’ll help take your mind off of it. _

Wally feels the last remaining tendrils of Robin’s frustrations disappear.  _ You know what, M’gann? That sounds like a great idea. _

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](https://niightwng.tumblr.com/).


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